UC Irvine (1-0) at
No. 1 USC (3-0)
Date: Friday, Jan. 5
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Marks Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.

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IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team will make the short trip to USC on Friday, Feb. 5, for a 2 p.m. match against the top-ranked Trojans at Marks Stadium.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine opened the 2021 dual-match season with a thrilling 4-3 win at Loyola Marymount on Sunday, Jan. 31.
• Bjorn Hoffmann made an impressive Anteater debut, winning at No. 1 singles and doubles in the opener.
• Ali Amiri delivered the final point against the Lions for his second career 4-3 match-clinching singles victory.
• Sunday was UCI's first team competition in 328 days as the 'Eaters were last in action on March 8, 2020.
• Last year, the Anteaters were 5-3 before the 2020 dual-match campaign, and subsequent fall season, were canceled.
• Since joining UCI as a transfer from Nevada in 2019, Jeremy Merville has posted a team-leading 14 career singles wins.
• Merville, who is 7-1 in career dual singles matches at UC Irvine, hasn't lost since Feb. 1, 2020.
• Bruce Man-Son-Hing owns a 44-23 career record in dual-match doubles.
• Man-Son-Hing's 44 victories are tied for 23rd among the Anteaters' all-time doubles win leaders.
• In their Division I history, the 'Eaters have made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• They have won 17 Big West regular-season championships and three Big West Tournament titles.
• UCI has been named an ITA All-Academic Team (minimum 3.2 team GPA) in each of the last four years.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In their first team competition in over 10 months, the Anteaters fought back from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-3 win at Loyola Marymount on Sunday, Jan. 31. UC Irvine took LMU down to the wire in doubles, but ultimately dropped the early point. The Lions won the first match at the No. 2 position before Bjorn Hoffmann and Bruce Man-Son-Hing upended Daniel Moreno/Diego Nava, 7-6 (3), at the top of the lineup. It then came down to court three where Matthew Sah and Thomas Smart fell just short in a tough 7-6 (9-7) battle.
 
In singles play, Loyola Marymount picked up the first result for a 2-0 lead. Jeremy Merville then closed out a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 3 to get the visitors on the board. The 'Eaters reeled off two more wins with Hoffmann defeating Nava, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 1, and Sah dispatching Thien Nguyen, 6-4, 6-4, at the fourth position. Down 3-2, the Lions were able to stay alive with a triumph at No. 6. All eyes then turned to court five where Ali Amiri bounced back from a first-set loss to secure the match-clinching 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
 
"Great team win; I'm very proud of how we competed," head coach Mike Saunders said after the match. "It was a hard-fought match. We played with belief and courage, problem solved and raised our level in the must-have moments."
 
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC remained at No. 1 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Rankings released on Feb. 3. The Trojans opened the dual-match season by hosting the ITA Kickoff Weekend, Jan. 23-25. They defeated UNLV, 4-0, before taking down No. 18 UCLA, 4-1, in the championship match. USC then improved to 3-0 with a 7-0 victory over Loyola Marymount last Friday. The Trojans have five players ranked in singles, led by No. 1 Daniel Cukierman, who is 2-0 at the top of the lineup this season. Cukierman and Riley Smith are also the nation's top-ranked doubles team.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. USC
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with USC, 45-3. The two teams' most recent meeting came on Feb. 10, 2018, when the Trojans emerged with a 5-2 victory in Los Angeles. The Anteaters are looking for their first win against USC since 1989.
 
ANTEATER ROOTS
Graduate transfer Bjorn Hoffmann has returned to his Orange County roots for his final season of eligibility. A Newport Beach native, Hoffmann has strong ties to UC Irvine with his parents, Carsten and Biljana, and his uncle, Zoran Korac, all being Anteater tennis alums. Both his father and mother still rank among UCI's all-time win leaders. Hoffmann is looking to finish out a stellar collegiate career himself, as he was a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete as a member of the Cal men's tennis team. He was ranked 81st in singles and 22nd in doubles in the final Oracle/ITA Rankings of the 2019 fall season. Hoffmann finished his Golden Bear career with a 67-34 singles and 39-28 doubles record.
 
STATEMENT MADE
Senior Jeremy Merville (Paris, France) made an immediate impact at UC Irvine after transferring from Nevada prior to the 2019-20 campaign. In his first season with the 'Eaters, which was shortened due to the pandemic, Merville picked up 13 overall singles (6-1 dual), and nine overall doubles wins. He was named the Big West Athlete of the Week on Feb. 19, 2020, after going a combined 4-0 in doubles and singles without dropping a set in road victories at Sonoma State and Pacific.
 
ALL-BIG WEST RETURNER
Senior Mateusz Smolicki, who played one season at USC, is in his third year with the Anteaters. As a sophomore in 2019, the Warsaw, Poland, native earned All-Big West honorable mention recognition in both singles and doubles. Last year, Smolicki played primarily at the top of the lineup and tied for second on the squad with 10 overall singles victories.
 
DOUBLES KING
Senior Bruce Man-Son-Hing is a two-time All-Big West doubles selection, earning first-team honors in 2018 and second-team recognition in 2019. In his UCI career, Man-Son-Hing has accumulated a 44-23 dual-match doubles record. His 44 wins are tied for 23rd in school history.
 
SUMMER CIRCUIT
Sophomore Matthew Sah won the ITA Summer Circuit event at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, July 11-13. He played five matches over the course of three days, finishing the tournament with a 3-6, 6-4, 15-13 comeback victory over Ellis Short in the championship match.